Ryan Reynolds And Blake Lively Are Seemingly Skipping The Met Gala For What Most May Assume Are Lawsuit-Related Reasons, But Not So Fast

It goes without saying that the past year has been very eventful for celebrity power couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. The two stars have been entangled in a legal battle involving Lively’s It Ends with Us collaborator, Justin Baldoni. As the situation continues, Lively and Reynolds have seemingly sought to keep a somewhat lower profile in some respects. It was just reported that they’ll be missing the 2025 Met Gala, but their absences seemingly aren’t due to any legal issues, in this case.

Blake Lively (37) and Ryan Reynolds’ (48) decision not to attend this year’s festivities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art doesn’t seem all that surprising, based on Us Weekly’s report. The news outlet talked with a source, who specifically spoke to the fact that the Age of Adaline actress wouldn’t be present. As the insider mentioned, Lively is “not a Kardashian who goes every year.” As the site also mentions in its reporting, it’s been three years since Reynolds and Lively actually attended the New York-based fundraising event as well.

News of the couple’s choice to sit out the event was also corroborated by TMZ. Sources also tell them that the couple made their decision not to attend sometime before the legal drama with Justin Baldoni began. Nevertheless, the outlet also mentioned that the two have been fixtures at the Met in years past. The Shallows actress has even become well known for her various Met Gala fits, including the reversible dress she wore at the event in 2022, where the pair were also co-hosts.

While the legal situation reportedly isn’t what’s causing the Green Lantern stars to miss this year’s gala, an actual reason has not been revealed. It is worth mentioning, though, that the pair does remain very business with other endeavors. And, at the same time, they are indeed still wading through the proceedings linked to IEWU.

In December 2024, Blake Lively filed a complaint against Justin Baldoni, who directed and co-starred alongside her in It Ends with Us. She accused Baldoni of on-set sexual harassment and alleged that he and his PR team conspired to launch a smear campaign against her. Baldoni denied the allegations and later filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, which published the claims, for libel and more. Lively eventually filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, his production company (Wayfarer Studios) and more for the same alleged offenses in her complaint. Baldoni subsequently countersued Lively, Ryan Reynolds and others for extortion, defamation and more.

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have missed a few events this year, with the Golden Globes being one that they sat out. However, it was reported, at the time, that their situation with Justin Baldoni had nothing to do with that. But the couple did attend the SNL50 event in February, with Reynolds even taking part in a gag that seemingly poked fun at the legal battle. It was reported that Lively was initially “hesitant” to attend, but she was ultimately “glad” she went.

There’s no telling exactly why the two spouses opted to attend the SNL event and are not swinging by the Met in a few months. Nevertheless, that’s, of course, their personal business, and they can choose to attend events at their leisure. The vast majority of us won’t be at the event either, yet you can watch all the coverage when the stars show up in full force on Monday, May 5.